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Judge declines to dismiss Ben & Jerry’s lawsuit

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A judge has ruled against Ben & Jerry’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the ice cream maker misleads consumers about its environmental practices.

Vermont Public Radio reports a Washington, D.C., associate judge ruled the lawsuit “alleges facts sufficient to advance a plausible claim.”

The lawsuit filed in July by the Organic Consumers Association claims Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, uses advertising to create a false perception that the ice cream maker is “committed to a clean environment and high animal welfare standards.”

The nonprofit says most of the milk used in the ice cream doesn’t meet its standards for animal care, and farms supplying the company are polluting lakes.

A Ben & Jerry’s spokeswoman has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

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